Mounting of electric pick-ups for gramophones



July 19, 1932. A L 1,868,304

MOUNTING FOR ELECTRIC PICK-UPS FOR GRAMOPHONES Filed Aug. 27, 1929 Him A TTo'eweYs Patented Jul 19, 1932" PATENT, OF IC 301mm nouoras cnnerrnor, cnnis'rcnuncn, NEW ZEALAND I I MOUNTING or nrlncfrn'ro rIc -u rs Fon Gmmm me":

"Application filed August 27, 1929; seria irafsss-rezj qa N ew zeal'an d seems 8', 928.

. This invention relates to electric pick-ups for gramophones as employed for electrically reproducing the sound in lieuof'the use of p the directly-acting reproducing unit and 5 sound-box i As hitherto employed; the 'pi'ck-up unit has been mounted either upon the end 'of the tone-arm in place iofthe reproducing-unit or upon a special arrn'pivoted at a poi-nt' be'yond lo the periphery of the turntabl'eii In either case, owing to th" pivotalmove:

ment ofits mounting-arm theuniu'in perl forming the necessary travel between thepe- F riphery andcentre of the record, -descr1bes an I arch which'tend's to eausethe needle to-be come more or less jambed against the sides of thegvolute groove of the record;

In the case of an electric-plckpa tend ency of thiskind is apt to have a seriously 26 detrimental eflect upon' the reproduction since an oscillatory movei nent of the needle from side to side of the grooveis relied upon "for the purpose in distinction -to the mainly vertical movementof the; needle inthe-icaseof an ordinary reproducing'unit;

vthe indentations are sharplycut.

It isthe object of the present'invention therefore to provide a novel means for mounting the pick-up unit whereby the same will be oausedto traversethe 'record in a 535 straight line radiallyof suchrecordyor approximately so; V I In carrying this object into effect the present invention consists briefly of'a stationary trackarranged above the turntable to extend- 3451 thereaoross parallel witha'diametrica'l line ofsuch turntable and upon which track'is mounted tobe capable oftravellingmove" ment longitudinally therealong a carriage whereby the reproducingunit issup'portably 5-453 mounted, the said attachment of the unit to the carriage being preferably such'as to per mit the unit a floating action thereby to en} sure its needle maintainingfirmcontact with the grooves of the records. I

1 In order that the-nature of the invention ably be'p'rovided' with 'rollersfll rotatable in and its construction may b'e clearly stood, it will now be fully describedwand" explained :with reference to the accompanying sheet of drawing illustrating by way. of;'ex'- ample a practical embodiment of. the in. 65

lvention,wherein zfl Fig. 1 is a perspectivesviewi showing a gramophone equipped with an electric piok up mounted in accordance with the present invention, and v i Fig. 21s a side elevation of the said mount ing' showing'the pick-up in: its raised con -j' dit ion as when changing :the record Or -re placing the needle. 1 A

.As :here shown 1 represents the-base or cabinet of: a gramophone havinga revolving turn-tablefl whereon a record as 3' is'adapted to be -mounted ascustomary. Y

+According to a the present "inyention, for the purpose of'mo'unting an electric pick-up;

as 4 which may beotany'known-o'r' appro-' priate form; there'is provided-and arranged above the .t urntableQ to extendthereacross parallelwith adiametrical line of suchturn table, a stationary track Which'man conveniently take the form hereshown and consisting of apair of railsas 5 and 6 disposed inparal lelrelation one'above the other and supported at their extremities by means of pillars or supporting members 7 and 8 attached to the structure ofthe gramophone at points'to the outer sides of the periphery of the turntable 2.

YUpon' the .said'track is mounted to be ca pablei of travelling movement longitudinally o therealong a carriage 9' whereby the i unit 4 ismounted. w j 1 r The said carriage may convenientlyconsist ofa suitablebody as here'shown provided with anti-friction :wheels or rollers 10 1 the peripheries of whichare adapted'tobear upon 'theupper edge of the rail-5 so that theibodjy of the carriage will depend therefrom,;-while at its lower portion the said body willpreferahorizontalplane with-their peripheries in. engagement with opposite lateral sidesot the rail 6, thereby to restrain the-"carriage from lateral'swingingmovement. -'j 1 a The said upper'b'a'r ispreferably arranged topresentlan inverted V -shaped=upperedge i to the wheels the peripheries of which are suitably grooved to receive it," thereby to ensure, correct alignment of the travel of the 1 carriage, while the lower rollers 11 will preferably be provided with tyres or peripheral surfaces .1 2 of rubber or other resilient material to engage the rail 6 without noise or c h'atter ,7 I V v The saidlower rollers 11 are preferably mounted in such a imanner'as to permit of their being adjusted in the direction to and from the rail6 andlwhich purpose mayfconveniently be accomplished as here shown by mounting such rollers within forks 13 whichh latter arereceived'within transverse bores 14 providedjin the lower portions of the car- 'i The mounting the unit 4 upon the car-- riage ispreferably suchas to permit the said unit a'floating action whereby its needle as 15 maybe maintained in firmcontact with the groovesof the record. c As here shown this mounting is 'accom-" plished by providingthe unit withapair of arms as 16 which are hingeably connected with; the body of the carriage at itslower it portionby'meansof'a horizontal axis 1? dis-.

Posed ng dinally with theit'ravel ofsuch. 1 carriage along the track the Preferredorm of the 0nar1cai the said unit is preferably provided 'also with a-plate or} arm'18v which when such unit oc-" cup es its operative position, as hereshown in Fig. 1;,l projects at an angle upwardly'andzinwardly pa'stthe hingeable axislT? and theres v fore, serves to partly. counterbalance the unit weight or such'unit.

and'iso relieve the needle of a portion of the when thegrecord' is .to bechanged andzthe unit rests uponthe. rail 6 thereby leavingthe space between thelowe'r edge of the saidrai and the surface of the table, clear. a f

Provision may be madezfor enabling the height of the track tfobe adjusted- Thusfor exampleashere shown this "may be accom: plished by making each of the pillars? and 8 in two parts oneof which is connected to the ends of the rails 5 and 6, while the other 'partineach case is attached to the :grama phone, structurefsuch parts being intercons nected by means ofaset-sCrew l9tappedinto onepart and; extending through-:a longi other parts.

tudinal slot'as 20 "inthe other-part; the ars 'rangernent being such that byvslackening the said screwstheparts attached torthe rails may be slid upfor down inrelation to the Ifthought desirable also the rails 5 and instead of being separate ashere shown may 7 becontinuousor conjoined by a suitable web.

operation a' record being in place upon 'portingan electric pick-up a r the turntable'thei carriage will be moved to V the required position along the track to place the reproducing unit in the required position for its needle; to engage the commencement of the groove of the record. As the record revolves therefore the engagement f the needlewiththe groove willcause the carriage to-travel progressively along the.

track the movement of the needle being'in" a straight line radially of the record or vir-' tu'allyso I claim In a' sound reproducingdevice having a turntable mounting meansnfor an electric pick-up, comprising a stationary track dise posed above said turntable andextending of the turntable' accarriage having support: ing wheelsadaptedto run upon-said'trac'k, guide rollers carried by 'saidcarriage and rotatable inia horizontal plane; with their 7 peripheries in contact with opposite lateral thereacros's parallel witha diametrical'line sides 7 of the track; thereby to restrain the v carriage j from lateral swinging movement," and means carr ed by'saidgcarri age for supposed above: said turntableaand extending thereacross parallel with a diametrical-line ing wheels adapted to run upon :said track,

guide rollers carried saidfcafrriage-and rotatable in a horizontal'plane with their ipe ripheries' in contact 'with.:opipositelateral 2 In a sound reproducing. Q device having; a turntable mounting means, for an electric pick-up, comprising-a stationarygtrackj dis of vthe turntable,- a carriage having support-7V sides of the tracktherebyjto restrain jtheca'rs riage from lateralrswinging' movement, and

means carried by said carriagefor support ing an electric pick-up, said 'guide rollers being provided withtires of resilient material thereby toengage the track withoutnoise. 5

3. Inia sound reproducing device having a turntable, mountingmeansfor an electric pick-up, comprising a stationary track dis posed abovessaid turntable and extending ,thereacross parallel ,with, a diametrica'l .line" of the turntab1e,'.a carriage having support-,. 1

ing wheels ada-ptedtorunup on said'trackf is guide rollers carried jbyz'fsaid carriage and rotatable in a horizontal plane withthe-ir'pe- V ripheries in contact" with oppositelateral sides of the track whereby to restrain the care riage from lateral swingingmovement, and

means for-hingedly securing an electric picks up to said carriage for swinglng movement in a plane'at right anglesto thetravelof the? carriage.

' 4. Ina sound reproducingv device'having a iturnta-ble',' mounting. means for an electric V pick-up,1comprisinga stationary trackz disposed abovef said .turnt'able fand extending thereacross. parallel with adiametrical line of the turntable, acarriage having support; i

ingwheels adapted to runupoii said track,

guide rollers carried by said carriage and rotatable in a horizontal plane with their peripheries in contact with opposite lateral' sides of the track thereby to restrain the carriage' from lateral swinging movement,

means for hingedly securing an electric pickup to said carriage for swinging movement in a plane at right angles to the travel of the carriage; and an arm carried by said pick-up and projecting at an angle upward andinward past said hinge connection, thereby to partially counterbalance said pick-up and relieve the neeclleof a portion of the weight.

In testimony whereof I-have hereunto affixed my signature.

I ROBERT DOUGLAS CARGILL. 

